Concrete railroad tie



' Feb. 22, y1927.

N. F. BROWN ET AL CONCRETE RAILROAD TIE Filed May 13, 1925 2 sheets-sheet 1 INVENToR WITNESSES Feb. 22, '1927.

N. F. BROWN 'ET AL CONCRETE RAILROAD TIE Filed ,May 1:5, 1925 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR- f' WITNESSES Patented Feb. 22,1927.

,UNITED STATES yPATENT oFFICE.

NORMAN F. BROWN AN-I) CHARLES M. REPPERT, 0F ETTSBR-GH, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONCRETE Rernnoen 'rin Application led May 13, 1925. Serial No. 29,929.

This invention relates to reinforced concrete railroad ties.

An object of the invention is to combine with such a tie resilient members adapted to engage and retain the screws or like members by which the rails are attached to the tie. Another object is to provide such resilient members in such form, and so retained in the tie, that they may be removed and replaced if and when that is desirable. Another object is to provide resilient members in the body of the tie, in such form and'so placed therein that the pulling'strains thereon from the rail retaining members will serve to tighten the resilient members in the tie rather than tov dislodge them therefrom. vIn general the object is to provide means in combination withA a reinforced concrete tie for resilient attachment of a rail thereto, and preferably` resilient seating of the rail thereon, for the purpose of preventlng destruction of the tie from excessive )ars and shocks resulting from a non-resilient mounting and attachr ment of the rail to the tie." V

Other' objects and advantages will be apparent to those familiar with the art from an inspection of the drawings and a reading of the following specication. A

Referring to the drawings, Fig. l is a central, vertical, longitudinal section through a preferred form Vof our tie and its associated parts, with ordinary railway rails attached thereto; Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section through the-tie and rail attaching members associated therewith, on the Yline II--II of Fig. l.; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the tie with a rail attached at one end, the other rail and its attaching and seating members not having been applied to the other end of the tie; Fig. .4t is a side elevation of the tie, with a rail and its associated attaching members at one end as shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 5 is a partial, central, vertical, longitudinal section of the tie, showing a modified means of seating a rail on the tie; Fig. v6'is a plan view of a special rail-adjusting locking nut for use in attaching rails to the tie; Fig. 7 is a central verticalsection on the line VII-VII of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a partial, central, vertical, longitudinalsection of the tie, showing the holes cast in the ties; andFig. 9 is a perspective view of a resilient plug Vadapted to be litted into the holes in the yties shown vin Fig. 8.`

Attempts have heretofore been made to use railway ties formed of reinforced concrete. The increasing cost of wooden ties and theirV deterioration through exposure to weather condition, has long made it desirable vto have ties of some'mo're permanent material than wood. The concrete ties as heretofore madehave usually failed because of lack of resiliency in their connection to the rails. The passage ofheavy locomotives and cars have soon pounded the concrete to pieces.y A

Vile have overcome many of the diiculties heretofore incident 'to rigid, non-resilient ties, by providing resilient inserts adapted to be fitted into the tie body and to furnish yielding kseats, or anchor blocks for the railholding attachment members, and alsoby preferably providing resilient seating members between the rail and the tie body.

inserts for the tie, and the resilient rail supports to be seated upon it, in such form that they may be readily removed and replaced without` changein the body of `the tie itself. le have also Ymade the resilient insert members inV such form that the strains .to which they Varef subjected tend to tighten them in their relation to the tie body,`rather than to loosen and separate them therefrom.

Referring specifically to .the drawings,V our tie T is made up of a one-piece concrete body cast about upper and lower reinforcing members 1 vand 2. These members are substantially rectangular loops, horizontally Vthe same time we have made the resilient positioned near the upper and lower facesof l the tie body, formed by bending two steel rods into vthe form shown in dotted lines in 3. The ends of both loops overlap, and the overlapped portions of the two loops are positionedV at opposite .ends of the Vtie, as illustrated Vin Fig. 3. At suitable intervals the longitudinal reinforcing mem.-

vbers'l and V2' are .supported and surrounded by transverse.vertically positioned reinforc- Ying bands 3; These are formed from steel rodsof suitablelsize bent into substantially rectangular form, and with each end turned I llO lil

in properly spaced relation in a inold until after concrete has been poured and set around them. They also prevent the tie from splitting longitudinally.

The longitudinal edges oit the concrete tie body are preferably beveled as shown in Fig. lhe upper face ot the preferred. forni oit tie body is provided with terminal raised ledges G at each end, for purposes` described below. Tivo holes 10 are provided at each end oit the tie body in the middle portion thereof, positioned inside the ledges t3, and spaced apart as regards each other, and as regards a corresponding pair of holes at the other end oil the tie, distances detei`- `mined by the Width oi' a rail flange, and the width ot' the track itself, respectively. The holes l0 extend from the upper to the lower :face ol the ties, in symmetrically deci-eas ing cross section from bottoni to top thereol. These holes are preferably in horizontal cross section in the torni et rectangular parallelograins oit' unequal sides, with. the corners cut oli', the longer sides extending lengthwise with the tie. They may, howerer, be square or ol' other shape in cross section. Preferably they are non-circular, to prevent turning. The concrete surrounding the holes l0 is reinforced by spiral steel i members 9, to prevent cracking or -failure oll the tie about the hole under load condiw tions. i

Plugs ll of resilient material are shaped to lit accurately into the holes l0, and in making up the tie, these plugs are driven in from the lower side of the tie until they are tightly litted therein. This gives a much tighter lit than if the plugs were molded in the tie. Ordinarily and prel e ably the plugs or anchor blocks ll are made oi Wood, because that material is coinparatively cheap, and universally available, but other resilient materials such as libre may be used.

A resilient block i12, preferably ot wood, is adapted to seat on the upper face of the tie and to have its outer end abut against the ledge (5, which ellectually prevents any outward lateral movementol the blocks. A. Ushaped steel tie plate 'i3 lits over the top of the bloei: 1Q, and furnishes the actual seat for the flange 14 of the rails l5. The edges of the plate 13 are turned down and embrace the sides ol block l2, reinforcing it against crushing and splitting strains. The plates 18 have holes adapted to receive circular terminal necks 20 of special locking clip members N. These comprise a noncircular head 2l, and a non-Circular body portion 22 having' four oppositely parallel straight sides, o, b, c, d, the corners being cutaway.` A cent-ral bore 23 through these special clips is unsyznmetrically positioned with respect to the sides of the body portion 09 as shown in Fig. 6. That is to say, each of the straight sides a, D, c, and al of the body portion is at adifferent distance from the center oi' the bore 2&3. lly means ol these special clips a rail may be shifted laterally and locked in each olf 'lour di lerent positions between a pair of the clips, Without changing the position oit' the axes oil the clips. These clips are not per se a part ol? our invention, their use is well understood in railway construction, and no further description is necesiaiy.

)Screws i255 having non-cinailar heads fill are adapted to pass through the bore 23 ol the locking clips il above described, and 'to extend into holes bored in the plugs ll. 'lhese holes are ol a f liamclor less than thai oi the screw shank, so that the thread,l oi' the screw firmly engage the plugs ll.

ln Fig. a modilical'ion is illustrated in that the seating block l" is omitted. il

steel tie plate lll rests upon an insulating member 3l. made ol some auch material as libre, rubber composition. or the like. The middle portion ol thistle plate has a downwardly eateiuling bead 52, vadapted to engage a corresl'ionding transverse groove Il?, in the upper -lace of the tie. This interliting bead and groove arrangement is intended to prevent lateral slipping el the tie plate upon the tie. With this forni of attachment it is not necessary to have the ledge 6 on the upper tie lace, since the bead lornls an abutment with the groove in the tie.

ln niarullacturing this tie, the reinl'orcing members l and il are preiiierly positioned in a suitable mold, and are held in spaced relation by means of the bands $3 as above described. fr suitable mixture oi' concrete olf proper consistency is poured into the mold., which is of such shape as to :fiorin the complete tie. The holes lll are fornual by blorlra :as ci a t c i si n. t -i n `for l l u l *o )ne 1d t hi i old l the concrete is set the mold is removed. '.lfhe

plugs ll, are then driven tightly into the holes l0, and iii necessary eut oli:A Aflush with the upper and lower sui-laces thereof. 'lhe tie is then ready or use.

ln laying lraclr, the tie is positioned as with an ordinary wooden tie. llloclrs l?. are then placed on the upper i'ace ol. the tie with their outer ends in abutment with the ledges (i, tie plates 13 are placed thereon, the rails positioned and properlyT spaced apart, and then holes bored through blocks 1:2 into the plugs ll, for receiving the shanks oil' the scre\ 25. The screws are then driven tinto the blocks l1 and their heads drawn down tight on the retaining clips N, previously positioned. Proper cooperating faces of the body portion 22 of these clips are turned to bear against the edge of the flange of the rail to bring it into the desired initial position. Later it may be shifted laterally `to four different positions, Without requiring any change ol position of the lili) lll) Cil

nection thereof with the rails.

since they are in wedged relation, and are` driven in very tightly before any strain is placed upon them. The holes into which the blocks are driven are surrounded by the spiral reinforcing members, which render the tie strong enough to withstand the strains due to this driving of the blocks into the hole, and the subsequent pulling strains imposed thereon due to strains transmitted from the rails under loads, particularly on curves.

As will be clear the reinforcing members 1 and 2 extend from end to end of the tie, positioned near each corner, so that a maximum amount of reinforcing is provided. These bars are of such a size as to give abundant strength toy the tie, being preferably made of about 7/8 inch steel rods.

The combinationdescribed gives a durable,

resilient, renewable tie having obvious and valuable advantages. y

The tie plates 13 may be formed by bending plate sections to suitable shape, or they may be rolled as special shapes and cut to length. It is desirable to have the upper surface of the plate on which the rail actually seats as narrow transversely as possible, so that turning movement of the tie resulting from train loads may be minimized. See Fig. 2. In other words a roller contact of rail and tie would be desirable inthe longitudinal line of the tie, and this is approached as much as may be in the shape of member 13. Vhen rolled sections are used it is practicable and desirable to accentuate this convex back of plate 13 even more than shown in Fig. 2.

It will be observed that the rails and tie plates are entirely spaced away from the ties by insulating material. Consequently the arrangements described furnish a well insulated rail, a result that is very desirable where signal systems, etc., are operated by currents passed through the rails.

We claim:

1. lThe combination in a railroad track of a reinforced concrete tie having resilient anchor blocks incorporated therein and positioned to receive rail-engaging means, the tie body about said anchor blocks being reinforced by helical bars, a resilient railsupporting block seated on the tie above the anchor blocks, a ledge on the upper face of the tie forming an outer abutment for the supporting block, a cover plate extending substantially over the supporting block and having its edges turned down along the sides thereof, and rail-engaging members extending through the said plate and supporting block and embedded in the said anchor blocks.

2. A concrete railroad tie having holes therethrough positioned to receive rail-an-V choring members, resilient plugs driven in said holes, reinforcing members in the ties surrounding said holes, a resilient rail-seating block positioned on top of the tie over said plugs in position to support a rail, and rail-engaging members extending through said block and retained by being embedded in said plugs.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2 characterized by the fact that the holes in the tie are tapered from bottom to top thereof, and the plugs are driven in said holes from the underside of the tie and extend from bottom to top' thereof.

4'. The combination set forth in claim 2 characterized by the additional element of a cover plate adapted to distribute the rail load over the upper surface of the block and to reinforce the sides thereof.

5. The combination as set forth in claimY NORMAN F. BRowN. CHARLES M. REPPERT. 

